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Sunday, February 3, 2013

Assassins Creed 3

Rating for this game: 9.5 Happy Price : 44.99Gameplay

Assassins Creed 3 has stuck with the core mechanics of timing combos, assassinations, and parkour style building jumping. The recruitment of Assassins is also still present. There are quite a few additions to these mechanics that have great polish and separate this game from previous entries.

Combat: The only way I can describe the combat is "savage" or "barbaric" and frankly, fulfilling. The new character, Connor, doesn't kill as cleanly as his predecessors. His combat style is filled with animations that will consist of quick repeated blows to the head with his tomahawk, or sliced hamstrings that will lead to the snapping of a neck. There is nothing more fulfilling that stabbing a redcoat with a bayonet, and then shooting his comrade with it while inside the body as they attempt to double team you.

Navigation: This remains unchanged for the most part from previous installments. Although the team at Ubisoft has done a great job in creating a large New England forest to run around in. The placement of trees, branches, and rocks have been meticulously placed and not thrown together. With a large environment like this, one would expect that with the short development cycle this game went through, things would be randomly placed. But that's not the case, the level design is ever present and very much appreciated. It's a great feeling when you come across a tree stump that leads to a set of carefully placed tree branches, that can then lead to an air assassination of a redcoat attacking a convoy traveling along the forest path.

New FeaturesDriving Ships: Who would have thought that ships would be present in an Assassins Creed game. Ship battles are like a whole different game within the game, and best of all they're fun to do. The oceans have steep waves and troughs in storms or when there are many ships on the battlefield to influence such a thing. The best thing about it is that it isn't just a shader that cannonballs can fly through. Being in a trough can actually provide protection as the wave in front of the ship will absorb enemy fire. This will also apply to you when firing upon an enemy that has taken cover behind a large wave. Naval warfare also allows the user to barrage coastal forts on land which is always fun. It's a great feeling when their defenses can't touch you as a moving target, and your ship can cause total destruction to the static target. You feel like an assassin of the seas.

Assassin Classes: Recruited assassins now have classes. You can select which type of assassin you want to aid in battle. If you need a marksman, call upon the marksman. The max amount of Assassins you can have is 7, and they must be called individually, but all 7 can aid Connor at one time. Not every assassin is combat related. There is a group that pretends to arrest Connor in order to sneak into Redcoat bases "Trojan" style. Another assassin might stab somebody to cause a chase, to clear out an area for Connor. Recruited Assassins no longer die, but are just injured. Recruited Assassins now have personalities and are integral to the plot of the game, but are still something done on the side.

Conclusion
This is the best installation of Assassins Creed I've played to date. Everything feels very polished. The whole "Don't fix what isn't broken" mantra definitely fits this game. They've just added animations and a new environment to play around in. Not to mention all the historical references in this game. Riding with Paul Revere, navigating secret Freemason tunnels, and disputes with George Washington are immersive. You really feel like you've aided in the construction of America when playing this game, and you feel like a total badass doing it. I haven't played a game this fulfilling since Skyrim. The main storyline is short though, around 20 hours or so. If you don't do much of the side activities like recruiting assassins or naval missions, this game will creep up and finish on you in a hurry. It's a must buy, but considering the short story, wouldn't feel good paying full price for the game.